The buckets or blades of turbines are subject to wear or erosion due to a number of factors. In a steam turbine prime mover, for example, the kinetic energy that is absorbed from the steam by the moving blades or buckets and delivered as shaft work to the device being driven results from the expansion of the steam into the heat of vaporization region resulting in a lowering in the quality of the steam. As the moisture content rises with the lowering of steam quality, the buckets or blades become more susceptible to erosion. Although wet steam is generally associated with the last stages of a condensing steam turbine, energy recovery from process steam and the advent of geothermal power, for example, have resulted in the initial supplying of wet steam, e.g. 20-30% quality for geothermal steam and 80% quality for oil well steam injection. In addition to the presence of water droplets, blade erosion is also a function of the velocity and impingement angle of the moisture particles. The presence of particulates in gases has a similar effect to the presence of water droplets. One solution to blade erosion is the use of replaceable blades. Additionally, for low horsepower, dependent upon steam inlet and exit conditions, conventional axial turbines are inefficient due to partial admission operation.